thank you again, and thank you, shelly. [applause] >> i want to also make sure i acknowledge another person on our committee, and that is nancy acknowledge someone else on the committee. she is in the mayor's office and she made things happen for us. thank you. >> and the extraordinary public service award goes to supervisor maxwell. she is a native of san francisco, and she was elected to the board in 2001. she served until 2011. this affected everything from land use, to children and families.

including a residential water conservation ordinance. congratulations, supervisor maxwell. >> good afternoon, everybody. this is me. people have been asking me, what are you doing now? i am thinking about things that i want to think about. you take it for granted, but i don't anymore. i want to thank the status of women, and all of you. i want to thank all of the people that are in this room that worked with me. thank you, it is collective leadership. you're certainly a part of my team. thank you all. [applause]

>> i asked if i could do this one because it is pretty darn important to me. this is the community leadership award. she was a young woman from hunters point that said, most kids in this community who don't believe they will live to see their twenty fifth birthday. she was gunned down at the age of 23, celebrating her twenty third birthday. she was an awesome young woman. she got into a little trouble

and had to do the ankle bracelet time. as she was going to city college, she fell in love with education, and decided that she wanted to be an attorney connected with our attorney general. they are kind of mentoring heard. they lost in the energy in bayview. as we did the one this year, i wanted to give it to someone. last year, it went to the bart board representative. this year, i am giving it to a young woman that i just think was awesome. at the age of 14, she opened her own dance studio because she liked to teach kids in the

community how to dance. she brought them into the backyard. at 14, she became a business owner while she was going to school. at the age of 16, she graduated from high school. i am bringing to you today an incredible one and that is a fourth grade teacher. i am telling you what she told me, ladies. she wants to one day be the secretary of education for the united states of america. [applause] 20 years old.

>> how do i follow such a beautiful introduction? he uses me as his instrument that shows me -- and chose me. i knew she is looking down and saying, my god, thank you for using me as your instrument. what got does, not does see how -- and not just hdoes he traded instrument, he supports it to the fullest extent. all across the state, in a poor neighborhood, you spotted me and i thank you. this wonderful opportunity will

open up more doors and that children that i serve. i believe that god uses me to continue to empower others. let's also give another warm round of applause. [applause] >> i am here to accept a wonderful honor. because of the instrument and having wonderful parents that supported the spiritually, financially, since those a little girl and i believed i could make my dream become a reality. today, my dear mother is your to

see me receive this. and to continue to support me because my mother knows that it takes a village to raise a child. there is another mother presenting me with this award. she flew here today, and i think you from the bottom of my heart for all of your support. [applause] i wanted to share some words of wisdom, some insights. i believe that it takes all of us working together to plant seeds that would bloom and flourish forever. god did that on purpose, just like in this room.

together, we are planting seeds. the youth that will bloom and flourish forever. on behalf of my nonprofit, which works with youth who empower them through dance, performing arts, the hip-hop. we let them know where the roots come from. africa. we see ballet to name a few. in addition to the performing arts, we offer brotherhood and sisterhood programs. for the boys, it is had a cross between boy scouts and fraternities. they teach self-esteem, and we present our children yearly in a

debutante ball. this is the third annual debutante ball, and in three years, we have served over 60 children. coupled with 20 boys from the princess club. our final aspect which the educational enrichment. it was essential that we do not leave that aspect out coupled with education. everything i say will go into

one year and out the other. we bring the dance, the arts and education. we used the instrument of version, change the words of. the turn that into what they used as a study mechanisms. i am proud to say that with the program i have used, and he was an academy for young scientists. to give you a quick demonstration of what that might sound like, it goes like this. parts of speech you are all easy, and just sing with me.

parts of speech are all easy, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, prepositions. conjunctions. a noun is a person, place, fang, or idea. like barack obama is a person. academy is in place. a little puppy is a thing. then you have a pronoun replaces a noun. like i, you, he, she, it, you, hey, you all, they. hopefully -- [applause] thank you. today, as i leave, i will leave

with beautiful ideas and action plans. i started them with the support of my wonderful mother. it is something that is essential to making a program flourished. you need to support. all of that combined, i hope i get the chance to meet each of you today. and be able to go back knowing that i am going to take back support. i can tell you what, as a result of this conference i was able to further advance. the use of my community can grow up someday to be greater than who i am. if they have me entering them,

sky is not even their lead. i hope to see the rest of you at the summit. [applause] >> last but not least, we have the spirit of a quality award. [applause] he was nominated by president obama to be assistant secretary of fair housing and equal

opportunity in april of 2009. john is a native san franciscan. congratulations, john. >> it is an honor to be here. they are right on time. i just want to say it is a real honor to be with all of you celebrating the one hundredth anniversary, also coming up, the one hundredth anniversary.

it was the dawning of government getting involved. it was the worst industrial accident. whether it is worker safety or -- it is great to be in the city of dynamic women. the former speaker, nancy pelosi. [applause] in my own family, my mom can't be here today, but my family is well represented by my sisters. the head of our affair house and office right here in san francisco. because time is limited, there are a number of things we are doing to advance equality for women. i could talk about the work

we're doing defending women that are denied loans by lending institutions. there are 22 cases around the country where women are denied loans because the lenders think they have no income because they are on maternity leave. we're close to resolving a nationwide case in that regard. defending the woman who was evicted for adopting a child. she was allowed in the villa complex -- into the apartment complex, but once they had bonded as a family, she was evicted. in the state of alabama, representing the freedom of women to be able to choose who they want to go out with, they have the water turned off. he went to the landlord and asked what happened. she says, lose your black boyfriend. that still exists. these are the kinds of things

that exist today. two more things that we are doing that is critically important. women must be free from domestic violence including when housing authorities may say that you have broken the least because of the violence that exists in your own home. they will ignore the fact that the women are the victims. the fair housing act, my office goes one step further. it advocates for the women. and we treat this as a case of gender discrimination because these policies have an impact on women. we will seek not only relief for the victim, but making sure that those policies change. also of importance to women, and the lgbt community, your

respective of marital status and sexual orientation. tomorrow at city hall, we will be holding a round table to discuss that issue as well. making some advancements, making international women's day relevant to the twenty first century. we have a lot of work to do together, but we will prevail. [applause] >> i just want to say that john proceeds me. he came all the way just to be with us and convene meetings tomorrow.

it is nice to have him and his family's commitment to the community. [applause] >> congratulations to all of the winners. we just did a show on foreclosures just a day. john, you would have been a great guest. i asked him about the proposed cuts to the home energy assistance program. it is up to everybody to make the phone calls. it is a crucial program not that we don't want cut. i hope you can stay around for the upcoming sessions because we have great conversations coming out. a number of multinational corporations are actually

approaching municipalities that are broke, why don't you let us take it over it will take off like wildfire. a4:45 for those of you that have to leave, thank you so much for coming. be sure to check out the incredible photos tonight. women all over the globe are taking to the streets to demand equal rights. [applause]

supervisor chiu: i fully

appreciate the concerns raised by some tenant leaders. i would never supported the project if i did not feel comfortable that tenant rights have been protected here with parker said -- part merced. i say this as one of the few tenants on the board of supervisors, who has been a staunch advocate of tenants before i was elected and with my votes on this board. my parents immigrated to the united states in the 1960's, and i was the first kid born in the u.s. my parents sacrificed everything so that their kids could have the opportunities that they wanted when they came here. i grew up in the boston area, live in different parts of boston, went to a catholic high school in dorchester, which is a section of boston. because of my parents work and the opportunities they gave me, my brothers and i were all blessed to go to harvard university. it was intense. i stayed there for college, for

law school, and i also have a master's in public policy there. those are subjects i decided to study in part because i was very interested in public service and public policy issues and government. i ran for office in part because i wanted to serve the city and really protect all that is so special about what san francisco is. >> we've been talking for years about how important it is to build new neighborhoods, to develop affordable housing, make sure we have transit-oriented sustainable green development that really is worthy of a 21st century san francisco. what we're doing today -- and, frankly, what we're doing this year will have impacts on the city for decades to come. thank you all for being part of this, and i look forward to that mid-cutting. i moved to san francisco 15 years ago for all the reasons that we all love our city. our cable cars. our hills. the diversity of our neighborhoods. and have loved every minute of being here.

>> like many of you here, i did not actually grow up in san francisco. i grew up in another part of the country that was not quite as tolerant or quite as diverse. san francisco drew me, as i think it through all of us, because we live in a very special place. i just want to say on behalf of the board of supervisors -- we have a special responsibility and a special leadership role in the world. as we come together, we symbolize all of this date we have in humanity, the faith we have in the fight for civil rights, the faith we have, frankly, as a common family. >> i consider myself someone who shares the progress of value that need san francisco's -- many san franciscans hold dear. >> i do believe that a majority of this board share the same

progressive values, and i think there is a danger and an overly narrow definition of what is progressive. we have to remember that being progressive stance for values of inclusiveness, of tolerance, of acceptance, and we need to think hard about how we characterize various votes of either being within that definition or outside of that. >> before i ran for office, i worked in san francisco as a criminal prosecutor and a civil- rights attorney and really got to understand how much of a beacon to the rest of the world san francisco is for social justice. i also been spent a number of years helping to grow a small business, got to understand the innovative spirit here in san francisco. at night, i volunteered as a neighborhood association leader and also as the chair of an affordable housing organization and learned so much about the challenges facing our neighborhoods and facing a

really special tools that are the urban villages that we live in. sen for assistance -- facing really the special jules -- jewels that are the urban villages that we live in. san franciscans during campaigns read everything they are sent in the mail. love to meet candidates. a gauge with them in conversations. i also learned how important it is to build bridges between communities, particularly communities of diversity we have. i was just incredibly honored to have been elected in november 2008. my district really encompasses the ethnic and economic diversity that exists throughout the city. as a result, i think my district is really emblematic of the entire city. you can find every political perspective that you could possibly want in district 3. so oftentimes, the interest of my district and the city really are quite a line, so i do not

have to think about this difference is probably quite as often as some of my colleagues may have to. i in particular want to thank the mayor for his decision to protect our nutrition programs. this is something that i think we all believe is incredibly important at a time when we have seen massive federal and state cuts, for us to hold the line locally and stand up in the city of st. francis for our seniors and our nutrition programs and families. i think we have a lot of challenges right now. we are still in the midst of the great recession. we all know way too many folks who are struggling in a minimum wage jobs pirouette of folks who have been laid off at work. i think as a city, we need to do much better at creating an environment where we have more jobs and more economic development. i know that all of us are committed to ensuring that we have a budget that not only provides basic city services that we have come to expect but make sure that we take care of our most vulnerable.

whether it be our at-risk use, our seniors, are disabled, our working families, folks who are out of work. i know something that every public servant who is here is committed to. adding with all come together as a board, as a city. we should come together as san franciscans, and, colleagues, at this time, i hope, and i asked that we unanimously vote for ed lee to be our next mayor. this is also a historic day for the asian-american community. for a community that has been here in santa francisco, for over 160 years, i am a product of that community. i know the ed and all of us of asian-american decent feel the legacy. i want to thank all of you who have been part of this historic moment to make this happen.

and say that this is obviously not just about a chinese- american community or an asian american community. this is about the american dream. the idea that anyone of any background of any color from any part of the globe can come here and sunday be at the very top of what our community is about -- and someday be at the very top of what our community is about.